Crs Report: Major Decisions in the House and Senate Chambers On
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86-193 EPW Major Decisions in the House and Senate Chambers on Social Security: 19354985 CRS ABSTRACT This paper reviews the major voting decisions taken by the House and the Senate in passing the original Social Security Act and in amending it from 1936 through 1985. Discussion centers on Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) votes, although votes on Medicare and other programs are brought up occasionally. This paper attempts to give the reader the tone and context of House and Senate debate on individual social security issues. CRS-v PREFACE During the period since the enactment of the Social Security Act, there have been hundreds of amendments to the Act. Many, perhaps most, of the amendments have been to the Social Security program itself, which encompasses just one title of the Act. Consequently, this paper could not possibly be comprehensive) nor does it try to be. Instead, it briefly summarizes discus sions on individual major amendments. These summations clearly do not capture the range of motivations behind social security votes; rather they record the arguments expressed at the time and, by so doing, attempt to give the reader the tone and context of the debate on major social security issues brought before the House and Senate chambers. The impetus for this report comes from the many inquiries that CRS gets for social security vote information, which range from requests for general information about legislative action over the years to requests for information about specific floor amendments. The paper is thus intended to be a reference document on the major statutory decisions taken by Congress on the Social Security program. A detailed table of contents and a summary table of the legislation discussed are provided to aid the reader. CRS-vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was strengthened by the expertise of David Koitz, a specialist who has provided Congress with analyses of many of the social security provi sions discussed, Geoffrey Kollmann, and Vee Burke, all of the Education and Public Welfare Division of the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Gene Falk, also of the Education and Public Welfare Division, provided major assis tance in checking information and citations. In addition, I would like to thank the Office of Legislative and Regulatory Policy of the Social Security Administration for providing very thorough and detailed comments on and sug gestions for the paper. CRS-ix CONTENTS ABSTRACT . iii PREFACE . V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . Vii I. INTRODUCTION . 1 II. CHAMBER VOTES ....................................................... 5 A. P.L. Congress, Enactment of the Social Security Act (H.R. 7260) ..................................................... 5 1. House Action ................................................ 6 2. Senate Action ............................................... 9 3. Conference Action ........................................... 11 B. 379--76th Congress, Social Security Amendments of 1939 (H.R. 6635) ..................................................... 12 1. House Action ................................................ 14 2. Senate Action ............................................... 17 3. Conference Action ........................................... 18 c. Payroll Tax Freeze, 1942-1947 ................................... 18 D. 492--80th Congress, 1948 Provision for Exclusion of Certain Newspaper and Magazine Vendors From Social Security Coverage (H.R. 5052) and P.L. 642-80th Congress, 1948 Provision To Maintain Status Quo Concept of Employee Res. 296) ................................................. 21 1. House Action ................................................ 23 2. Senate Action ............................................... 23 3. Veto ........................................................ 24 4. Veto Override ............................................... 24 E. P.L. Congress, Social Security Act Amendments of 1950 (H.R. 6000) ..................................................... 25 1. House Action ................................................ 26 2. Senate Action ............................................... 28 3. Conference Action ........................................... 30 F. 590--82d Congress, Social Security Act Amendments of 1952 (H.R. 7800) ..................................................... 30 1. House Action ................................................ 31 2. Senate Action ............................................... 32 3 . Conference Action ........................................... 33 G. P.L. Congress, Social Security Amendments of 1954 (H.R. 9366) ..................................................... 33 1. House Action ................................................ 35 2. Senate Action ............................................... 35 3. Conference Action ........................................... 37 CRS-x H. P.L. Congress, Social Security Amendments of 1956 (H.R. 7225) ..................................................... 37 1. House Action ................................................ 38 2. Senate Action ............................................... 38 3. Conference Action ........................................... 40 I. P.L. 85-840, Social Security Amendments of 1958 13549) .... 40 1. House Action ................................................ 40 2. Senate Action ............................................... 41 3. House Concurrence ........................................... 42 J. P.L. 86-778, Social Security Amendments of 1960 (H.R. 12580) .... 43 1. House Action ................................................ 44 2. Senate Action ............................................... 45 3. Conference Action ........................................... 46 K. P.L. 87-64, Social Security Amendments of 1961 (H.R. 6027) ...... 46 1. House Action ................................................ 47 2. Senate Action ............................................... 48 3. Conference Action ������������������������������������������� �� L. Proposed Social Security Amendments of 1964 (H.R. 11865) ........ 49 1. House Action ................................................ 50 2. Senate Action ............................................... 50 3. Conference Action ........................................... 51 M. 89-97, Social Security Amendments of 1965 (H.R. 6675) ...... 52 1. House Action ................................................ 53 2. Senate Action ............................................... 55 3. Conference Action ........................................... 57 N. 89-368, Tax Adjustment Act of 1966 (H.R. 12752) ............ 57 1. House Action ................................................ 57 2. Senate Action ............................................... 58 3. Conference Action ........................................... 58 0. P.L. 90-248, Social Security Amendments of 1967 12080) .... 59 1. House Action ................................................ 60 2. Senate Action ............................................... 61 3. Conference Action ........................................... 62 P. 91-172, The Tax Reform Act of 1969 (H.R. 13270) ............ 63 1. House Action ................................................ 63 2. Senate Action ............................................... 63 3. Conference Action ........................................... 64 92-5, Public Debt Limit, Increase; Social Security Act, Amendments 4690) ..................................... 64 1. House Action ................................................ 65 2. Senate Action ............................................... 65 3. Conference Action ........................................... 66 R. 92-336, Public Debt Limit; Disaster Losses; Social Security Act, Amendments 15390) .................... 67 1. House Action ................................................ 67 2. Senate Action ............................................... 68 3. House Response to Senate Amendment .......................... 69 4. Conference Action ........................................... 69 s. P.L. Social Security Amendments of 1972 (H.R. 1) ........ 70 1. House Action ................................................ 71 2. Senate Action ............................................... 71 3. Conference Action ........................................... 73 CRS-xi T. P.L. 93-233, Social Security Benefits, Increase (H.R. 73 1. House Action . 74 2. Senate Action . 75 3. Conference Action . 76 u. P.L. 95-216, Social Security Amendments of 1977 (H.R. 77 1. House Action . 78 2. Senate Action ............................................... 81 3. Conference Action ........................................... 83 v. P.L. 96-265, Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 (H.R. 3236) ..................................................... 84 1. House Action ................................................ 85 2. Senate Action ............................................... 86 3. Conference Action ........................................... 88 w. P.L. 96-403, Reallocation of OASI and Taxes (H.R. 7670) ...... 88 1. House Action ................................................ 89 2. Senate Action ............................................... 89 x. P.L. 96-473, Retirement Test Amendments (H.R. 5295) ............. 90 1. House Action . 91 2. Senate Action . 92 3. House Concurrence . 93 4. Senate Concurrence .......................................... 93 Y. P.L. 97-35, The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (H.R. 3982) ..................................................... 93 1.